Right from the time man began to think he wondered at the mystery and splendour of everything around him, be it the gorgeous sun rise, the gently gliding silvery clouds, the steady and nimble stream, or the spellbinding starry night. He was just filled with awe. It was not only awe-inspiring but also soul-fulfilling. He spent hours just marvelling at the magnificence surrounding him. In fact this filled him with so much joy that he longed to live this experience all the time in some way or the other. That is perhaps why he started recreating these scenes in his own way, with his limited but innovative tools and pastels. We thus have amazing cave paintings and marking of ancient man.

But man did not stop at recreating what was outside of him, so overwhelming was this experience that he longed to figure out and fathom the Source of this beauty and dazzling diversity. Interestingly this journey led to turning his gaze from outside to inside.

Once he started his inner journey, he was brimming with bliss. In some way, however inadequate it may be, he wanted to now give shapes to this inner experience of superlative peace and transcendental joy. So he went even deeper within, connected with that Source, and concretized his imagery of this Source in the form of art. That is how emerged the blissful forms of various gods, goddesses, deities and angels.

In fact, these expressions of his conviction of the inner experience were so sincere, solid and indomitable that the Source actually manifested in front of him in the shapes he had imagined and created. Thus man was blessed with the visions of Ganesha, Kali, Muruga and so on.

When art is straight from the innermost core of our heart, it is as powerful as the Divine Himself. In fact the Divine submits Himself to such an expression of heightened purity and intense faith channelled as beautiful art.

Therefore soulful art is one royal road to God's heart. And we at Radio Sai are happy to offer you a platform where you can express and share your masterpieces of art as an offering to the Divine Master.

These are the three categories for this first ever Radio Sai Painting/Sketching Competition.

Age Group

Theme

Below 15 years

Friendship

15 – 25 years

Dreams

26 years and above

Reality

1. A participant is allowed up to a maximum of 3 entries.

2. Please submit only hand-drawn art. This contest does not include digital art or graphics.

3. Please do send scanned copies or digital photos of your creations via email to [email protected] with subject line ‘Radio Sai Painting Contest’. Remember to mention your name and country on your creation and in the email too.

4. If it is a digital photograph, it has to be atleast an 8 megapixel photo and if it is a scanned image it should be of minimum 300 dpi resolution.

5. The preferable file format can be JPEG, and the file size should not exceed more than 20 mb.

6. Your submissions should reach us by October 12, 2015.

7. The winners will receive special 90th Birthday Radio Sai tokens of love. And all the commendable entries will be shared on the Radio Sai website as a beautiful photo exhibition.

So let your creativity take the flight of sublimity through your brush, colours and strokes.

Thank you
Radio Sai team

What are your impressions about the Initiative? Please let us know by writing in to [email protected] or you may leave your thoughts in the comments section. Do not forget to mention your name and country.